Begin by creaming the butter and the sugar. Add the basil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix until just incorporated. Add the flour in half cup intervals, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl. Do not over mix the dough.

Separate the dough in half and place on plastic wrap. Seal and shape into disks. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, up to 1 hour to chill.

In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (F) and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

After the dough has been allowed to chill. Dust a bit of flour on a clean surface and on a rolling pin. Working with one chilled dough disk at a time, begin rolling out the dough to the desired thickness. Cut with cookie cutter(s) of your choice. Re-roll the scraps until all the cookies are cut.

Place in the oven for 8-12 minutes, or until set. Allow to cool a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack until completely cooled.

The baking time will depend on the cookie thickness and the size of cutters used. I used a heart cookie cutter, about 2-inches across. Each disk made about 36 cookies, so about 72 cookies total. Enjoy with tea.

You can make one half of the dough into cookies and use the other half for a tart or pie crust.